A fresh attempt has been launched to deport ‘hate preacher’ Abu Qatada from Britain.

The Home Office has asked for leave to appeal to the highest court in the country – the Supreme Court – after the latest of many bids to send the terror suspect back to Jordan was rejected.

Lawyers want to challenge a ruling by Court of Appeal judges last month that Qatada could not be put on a plane over fears he would face an unfair trial.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The government remains committed to deporting this dangerous man and we continue to work with the Jordanians to address the outstanding legal issues preventing deportation.’

Efforts to deport the radical Islamic cleric to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999, have continued for almost eight years. He has lived in Britain since 1993.

Home Office lawyers lost a previous challenge to a ruling by immigration judges last November on the grounds that Qatada was a ‘truly dangerous’ individual who had escaped deportation through ‘errors of law’.

In their ruling last month, three Court of Appeal judges said it was not ‘relevant’ that Qatada was regarded as dangerous and there was a risk that others would be tortured to provide evidence against him in Jordan.

Qatada, who featured in hate sermons found on videos belonging to one of the 9/11 bombers, has thwarted every attempt by the government to expel him.

Last month he was returned to jail after he was arrested for alleged bail breaches. Police say he is being investigated over extremist material.